Editors Note: What follows is a press release posted exactly as it was received (except for reformatting to fit the OEN site.) The allegations, if true, demonstrate how the deep pocket can harass the little guy in our legal system.
What: R-CALF USA news conference to address seizure of Herman Schumacher’s home by the U.S. Marshals Service in reference to cattle price manipulation case against Tyson Fresh Meats The news conference will highlight the ongoing injustice against Schumacher; will demonstrate that the Administration, Congress and the U.S. judicial system have utterly failed to protect the safety and security of our nation’s food supply; and, will reveal that the concentrated beef packing industry has accumulated such untouchable power that it can freely engage in anticompetitive and antitrust behavior to drive family farmers and ranchers from the U.S. cattle industry by the tens of thousands each year.
When: 1 p.m. CDT on Friday, June 26, 2009
Where: Front lawn of the Herman Schumacher residence, 102 6th Ave. NW, Herreid, S.D.
Who: R-CALF USA Co-Founder Herman Schumacher, lead plaintiff
R-CALF USA Volunteer Mike Callicrate, plaintiff
R-CALF USA Region III Director Johnny Smith
R-CALF USA CEO Bill Bullard
Background: Directed by a court order obtained by Tyson Fresh Meats Inc. (Tyson), the U.S. Marshals Service on June 11, 2009, posted a “No Trespassing” sign and “Warning” on the front door of the home of South Dakota rancher and cattle feeder Herman Schumacher. Tyson obtained a judgment against Schumacher because Schumacher tried to protect his fellow cattle producers by stopping Tyson from violating the Packers and Stockyards Act. A federal jury unanimously sided with Schumacher, but then a three-judge panel for the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (8th Circuit) overturned the jury’s decision. So, in a bizarre twist, Schumacher must now pay Tyson $15,881.38 or Tyson will use the U.S. judicial system to finalize the seizure of Schumacher’s home.
“This retaliatory action against Schumacher, who courageously did what USDA (U.S. Department of Agriculture) was supposed to do but refused to do, is an extreme injustice,” said R-CALF USA President/Region VI Director Max Thornsberry. “We cannot sit back and allow Tyson to intimidate U.S. cattle producers and destroy our markets. R-CALF USA is sponsoring this news conference to help protect Schumacher’s property against Tyson’s advances, as well as to highlight the urgent need to end – once and for all – the market-manipulating practices of the four largest packers who together control approximately 88 percent of the U.S. fed cattle market.”
USDA is responsible for the enforcement of the Packers and Stockyards Act of 1921 (PSA), which was established to protect family farmers and ranchers against unfair and deceptive practices by the highly concentrated meatpackers. In 2006, both the Office of Inspector General (OIG) and the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that USDA had failed for nearly a decade to properly enforce the PSA. As a result, anticompetitive practices and anti-trust actions by the concentrated meatpackers have gone unrestrained, causing hundreds of thousands of cattle producers to exit the industry.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
